Srinagar, Oct 06: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Tuesday backed the INDIA bloc’s march to the Election Commission over alleged deletions from electoral rolls, welcomed the Supreme Court’s intervention in the matter, and reiterated that his government would not implement the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) in the Union Territory.
Speaking to reporters, CM Omar as per Kashmir Convener said the Opposition alliance had drawn up a calendar of programmes during a recent meeting of its leaders in Delhi, under which its MPs began a march to the Election Commission on Tuesday.
In the last few days, there was a meeting of the leaders of the INDIA bloc in Delhi. In that, a calendar was set for this month. Under the calendar, the members of Parliament of the INDIA bloc started. Today, they had a programme to march on the Election Commission. This programme will continue, he said.
Welcoming the Supreme Court’s intervention on the issue of voter list deletions, CM Omar said his repeated warnings on the matter were now being taken seriously.
We have repeatedly said this. But very few people have paid attention to it. But now the media has also started saying. It is a good thing that the Supreme Court is also raising questions — especially the deletions, on the basis of which the names of the people have been removed from the voter list. The Supreme Court has also asked for an answer from the Election Commission and the Government of India. We are waiting to see how much this will be corrected through the court, he said.
On the Uniform Civil Code, CM Omar made clear his government’s opposition, stating that a code cannot be called “uniform” unless it applies across the country.
Uniform Civil Code is not uniform until it is applicable everywhere. We will not apply Uniform Civil Code here. Even in Bihar, Nitish Kumar’s party has said that they will not apply it. There are other governments who have said that Uniform Civil Code will not be applied here. Only BJP is applying it, he said.
He challenged the BJP-led Centre to bring the legislation in Parliament rather than pushing it in states governed by the party.
These things are not done through states. If you have the courage, bring the law in Parliament. Debate it in Parliament. See if it gets passed in Parliament or not. They will not bring this law in Parliament because they do not have the numbers in Parliament to pass it. That’s why, one by one, BJP has to do it in their states, which is wrong. If you look at democracy in the right way, then it should not be in different states. It should be debated in the Centre. And if they bring it in Parliament, then this bill will not be passed, he said.
Asked whether he was satisfied with his government’s performance as it approaches two years in office, the Chief Minister remained non-committal. “Let it be two years. After that, we will tell you what we did and what we did not do,” he said.
On the reported deportation of Rohingya refugees from Jammu and Kashmir, Abdullah expressed unease over the sudden action against them, while acknowledging the limits of his government’s authority.
We did not have any problem with them staying here. But it is also true that they cannot stay here legally. Those who have come from Bangladesh without permission — it is a different matter for them. But the Rohingyas, who are being targeted for no reason, when they have been driven out of their country, we gave them a place here. We let them stay here until their country’s situation improves. I find it strange to take action against them all of a sudden, he said.
But this is not in our hands. This is the Government of India. And the Government of India is taking help from the police. The police are also not in our control. So it is better that you ask this question to those who are in control of the police, he added.
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